True Confessions
by VortusTheUndying
Summary: A young priest visits a witch one day before her execution. In an attempt to save her soul he instead gets an early lesson on the true horrors of the witch hunts, rated R for Violence
1. History of the witch hunts

Hello one and all I am writing my first story to be read by everyone who will listen to what I have to say. I have submitted my views on this particular section of under my email name. Because of this I have made friends as well as enemies so if you wish to review my story, please tell the truth on how you feel.

Prelude

In the Middle Ages, when Christianity had become the dominant faith after the conversion and fall of the Roman Empire, fear had gone through the top rulers of the faith, stationed in Rome. This fear was that people weren't following the faith through and through like they had set down. So Rome through Pope Innocent III had begun the Heretic Hunt, through inquisitioners people were gripped with the fear of excommunication, so they had chosen to live without ever questioning the faith. However the Church wasn't completely satisfied, so they had begun the sales of indulgences, which means if you give Rome a certain amount of money, they would 'see to it that you get to heaven'. This caused one of it's own, Martin Luther, to lay the foundations of the Protestant faith. 100 years before that time the inquistioners had begun hunting anyone who held the magick of the earth that could have dated back since the dawn of humanity. However the Church was under the impression that these people were agents of their embodiment of evil Lucifer. So the inquisitioners set out on the places where people still worshipped and lived by the old ways.

For 300 or so years the witch hunt was so brutal, whether they killed actual witches or disillusioned Christians is unknown, but the majority of those killed were women because women were believed to be 'more likely to submit to a demon's advances'. When the King of England, James, the first person to translate the Bible into English, it is believed that the original translation of '_Thou shalt not suffer a witch to live_' was _' Thou shalt not suffer a poisoner to live',_ but King James changed the verse because he feared witches more than poisoners and the witch hunt got more intense because of this. Whole bloodlines of witches dating back to the ancient days were wiped out because of these hunts. It wasn't until the Salem Witch Hunts of 1692 that witch-hunts were no longer necessary or moral. Witches were believed to be wiped out after this time, but in the last century they had survived underground and have come back to life. I Vortus the Undying a new writer to am a Wiccan and I will tell a story about a witch named Loreena who is to face death in the year 1415 in Ireland, and she gives a young priest named Brother Williams from England an early lesson on what the witch hunts were really like….


	2. Arrival at the dungeon

Hello once again it's me again; I just want to say that even though I am a Pagan I am not anti-Christian, it's just where I'm from, it's hard to pick out the good ones from the bad ones. I also want to add that Loreena and Brother Williams are my original characters so no stealing from me okay?

Chapter 1 – Arrival at the dungeon.

"Thank you sir." the young priest from England said to the servant at the side of the carriage who helped him out. He pulled his robe shut as it was December and it was cold out. He held his Bible close to him as he stared at the dungeon next to the town square where the stake was prepped out. He walked on towards the doors thinking, "Why, after just graduating from obtaining Priesthood do I have to come to Ireland just to visit with a condemned witch. She's already guilty for her sins what use of me do they even have?" But he chose not to think of it right then; it was not his place to question the Cardinal.

When Brother Williams set foot into the dungeon he covered his nose with his handkerchief to block out the horrid smell of the unwashed prisoners crowding the place, but after 5 minutes he got used to the smell. He followed the executioner to the place where he was needed. Along the way he passed massively unkempt prisoners all wishing for repentance. He passed by a cell when an arm brushed against his. Williams stopped and saw a decrepit old man clutching a wooden cross on his arm. "You priest, I have to confess that I have stolen and killed in my life, and for what I've done I am about to die, but please ask God to forgive me, and I don't want to have left behind a horrible life". Before Williams could even speak, the executioner pushed him along, " Eh, you don't need at listen to him, he's a liar, the' witch is more important."

Finally Williams came to the hallway where he was needed. Two guards blocked the doorway to the witch's cell. The guards looked him up and down. "So this is the young priest eh?" the left one, who was short and fat said. "Good thing, we'll thank God for this brave man, the witch in here is vile and cruel". Said the right, tall and lanky guard. The left one went on "I have seen this witch dancing naked in the woods near here with demons, while drinking the blood of its sacrificial victims." The lanky guard added, "Yeh, and they looked like children to me." Williams felt nervous because even though he had never met an actual witch, growing up in the monastery he had heard stories exactly like these. "When you took her did she fight at all."? The guards laughed, " No she didn't but her husband did try to fight us as we loaded her up on the carriage. I ran him through with my sword but he tried to strangle me whilst impaled, so I kicked him off and slit his throat." The lanky guard showed Williams his neck, which was red with finger-marks. Williams felt that he heard enough " Could I just go through please." The guards unlocked the door to the hallway leading to the witch.

As the priest and the executioner walked down the hallway the short guard called back " Be careful priest, she might throw her teeth at ya." then the guards roared with laughter. As they came to a stop the executioner took out the keys to the cell and handed them to the priest. "If she gives ye trouble just give me the word and I'll 'handle it'. The priest then uttered a silent prayer to his Lord and unlocked the door and went inside.


	3. The Meeting

Chapter 2 – The Meeting

Brother Williams had his back turned to the witch as he shut the cell door behind him. This was because growing up he had heard witches were said to be the most hideous women, and if you stared at them for a certain amount of time you would be under their powers. Williams took a deep breath and turned to face the prisoner. She was leaned against the far end of the cold stone floor, and Williams was confused, instead of a hideous old hag with green skin and warts he saw a young brunette that looked his age. Holding his cross up and gripping his Bible in case it was just an illusion he slowly stepped towards her to look at her better. He was shocked because the witch had multiple wounds all over her body.

Her right leg was a bloody mess, probably because of the leg device she was put through, but this was too much, it looked like they tightened the constriction on the device until her leg was broken in several places. A closer look on her leg Williams saw a bone jutting through her shin. Her simple brown robe was shredded and drenched dark red with her blood. What caused it were probably wounds on her extremities, which Williams took no interest in. Her fingers on her left hand were dislocated and going in all directions, most likely because he heard witches used their left hand to cast their strongest incantations, so the guards prevented this. Williams tried not to look into her face, but his eyes caught fresh blood dripping onto her chest, which made Williams look into her face. The witch had a gash over her otherwise pretty face right over her right eye forcing her to keep it shut. The priest felt forlorn stabbing in his heart for looking at this girl. She must have sensed this because she lifted her head to look at him and smiled at him. Williams' mind snapped back to reality and to his duty to Rome, he stood up clutching his cross and started thumbing furiously through the Bible.

He spoke in his deep voice. "Do not fool me with your facade, bride of Satan, show me your true powers I fear nothing, because my Lord is with me." The witch shivered because of the cold in the cell, "They..are with me too….right now." Williams was confused. "Whom do you speak of, we are the only ones in here. The witch uttered a soft chuckle "The spirits of my ancestors, my parents, and my husband. The Lord and Lady are telling me you don't know the truth." Williams was convinced she was trying to trick him. "I know the truth, and the truth is in this sacred book, I follow the life and teachings of Jesus Christ, only begotten son of our Lord. You are about to die for your ultimate sin of defying our Lord with your way of life, your life of sin, but I am here to at least grant mercy to your sins before your execution on the morrow." He heard the Cardinal's voice through his head saying the same thing as his spoke his last sentence. The witch looked troubled, "I don't understand, we have lived in peace for many generations, except for the occasional uprisings between the clans, what have followers of the old ways done to you followers of Rome to generate such…anger."

Williams replied, "Because you follow the root of evil; Satan, through him you have obtained your ability to use magic to harm others, you have been seen cavorting in the woods with demons, you have the blood of innocent children on your hands, you…you…." He tried to continue but he trailed off. The witch looked down at her stomach and touched it with her good hand, she looked up with a single tear in her eye, "It is as I feared, you really don't know the truth, but I sense you are not like the others, you have lawful intentions, you could understand what has happened." Williams for the first time looked directly into her eyes, "What is your name?" The witch smiled, "My name is Loreena, loyal follower of the Lord and Lady, the last member of my family to follow the old ways." Williams replied, "Why is that, have they converted to Christianity?" Loreena lowered her head, "Those guards outside probably told you from their perspective, how I ended up here, but I believe they didn't tell you how I really ended up here, I should also tell you a little about my life, and maybe you can understand, and after I am dead, you can tell your followers, and perhaps these senseless killing can end." Williams was intrigued, because the guards had warned him that this young girl, Loreena, a witch condemned to death was hideous and would have killed him in an instant, they had told him she had the power to warp his otherwise good soul with magic far beyond reckoning. However this girl looked like she didn't have the power to heal her wounds, much less have the power to strike him down, However he sat down to listen to her story still clutching his cross in case something was to go wrong.


	4. A Tale of Revelations

Chapter 3 - A tale of revelations

Hello all. This chapter is going to be told through Loreena's POV because it might be easier than 'she said, she said' throughout this chapter so bear with it. And by the way enjoy.

I sighed with the memories returning to my head, and began to tell this priest about my life. He seems different from those who have hurt me all my life; he doesn't know what his brethren have done to me and my people. My life was a peaceful one for the first ten years, filled with its own comings and goings. I was the only child of a fairly young couple named Victoria and Tristan, My father was the last of his family to follow the old ways of our people. The reason for this was not told to me until my twentieth year of life. The magick of the earth flowed throughout his veins with his blood. His family line goes back probably to the time when the gods walked the earth's ground with the first humans. We believed a handful of humans began to understand the earth's powers and communicated with the spirits of the dead as well as the spirits of the living.

The people who began to understand the spirits of the earth became shamans and healers. They used their powers to help others because of the Law of Threefold. This means if you send out magick or anything else positive or negative, it will come back three times more than what you originally sent out. So you could help yourself greatly or do serious damage to yourself. So my people lived in clans with a 'wise one' or in my language '_Wiccan_' to not only help the clan with healing the sick but also to communicate with the Mother Goddess and the Father God, who were believed to have created everything, including all of the gods and all of the goddesses.

My mother was orphaned in her sixth year of life because her parents were killed in a vicious argument with unknown people at the time. She wandered around for weeks at a time clutching in her hand, a pendent that had a star within a circle. She finally came up to a village starving and was discovered by the elder druid a kind old man by the name of Katra. He adopted my mother and named her Victoria after his late wife because my mother looked like her, and he raised her as his own. That particular village was the one my father lived in so they met and fell in love. When I turned sixteen, I met a kind young man named Micah, he was what was called a 'heretic'.He had told me aheretic was someone who was banished from his home. I had fallen deeply in love with him over the next two years and I pledged my life for him. After I turned eighteen I married him and he became like us a follower of the Lord and Lady.

One night after I turned twenty, my parents sat me and my husband down and talked with us. They had told us of a different group of people, these people were followers of one god and the founder of the faith was executed for his beliefs but was raised back to life by his own god to show the people what he had meant for them. I was confused about this for a long time. My father looked troubled as he told us that the followers of this faith have grown twisted with greed that they had sent missionaries to places around our country to spread this faith to people like us.I asked what he meant, and mother said "Those who possess the magick of the earth." I couldn't understand why these people wanted to take those who communicated with the earth and try to tell them that what they believed in was wrong. After all we had done nothing to them. Micah looked into my eyes and told me he was a follower of that faith in Rome before he was banished because he questioned the Pope's business over politics and the promise of salvation in heaven if the Church was given enough money.

Mother took off her pendent she had worn throughout my life and told me to keep it with me always. I asked what was wrong and she told me at the first light I must take myhusband and leave this place because the warriors of the faith called 'inquisitioners' were coming to the village with a hoard of English soldiers, because they had heard a couple of the villagers they had converted had not completely given up the old ways and tried to mix the faith. Mother's face was solemn "And in order to 'preserve the purity' of their faith they intend to kill everyone in the village. Hearing this, tears started filling my eyes; I didn't want my parents to stay here and possibly get killed by these people, I tried to ask them to come with us but my father had taken his sword out and had set it next to the door.

When I look back, that night was probably the last time I would sleep so well for a long time. I was shaken awake by screaming. I woke up my husband and told him to get dressed and to get our horse right away. I went to the front door and saw Mother and Father getting ready. I once again tried to convince them to come with us, but they only told us to run and protect the Earth. Father gave me one of his knives and said to protect ourselves and they both hugged us. Micah led me to the stables and as we rode outside our cottage caught on fire. We rode outside the village and saw what the Christians would call 'Hell on Earth'. I had seen villagers getting hung by their necks while getting impaled with spears. They seemed to try to call for anyone to help but couldn't because of the flowing blood from their mouths. I tore my eyes to see old men and women getting dragged to stakes and getting burned alive. One old woman tried to escape the flames but the English soldiers who were burning her caught her and threw her back into the fire. I will still hear her screaming until the day I die. I turned to see helpless women and children being held down because of the soldiers' swords going through their shoulders and the long robed men reading out loud to them from I would imagine the Bible. I turned to see my mother getting dragged off by laughing men, they were trying to drag her behind a building to do horrible things to her. My father ran up and brandishing his sword, struck down the men holding mother, they hugged each other when one inquisitioner came up from behind him and stabbed him in the upper back. Mother held him as he lay there dying, she took his sword and took her own life by slitting her throat open. She chose to die for what she was rather than live for what she wasn't.

Suddenly an archer's arrow went through my horse's neck and fell rapidly. Micah took my knife and was fighting soldiers and inquisitoners left and right, he was fighting for me. One guard who was fat was trying to pull me inside a building by my hair and possibly try to rape me, was stopped by Micah who lost his right hand in a horrible fight with an inquistioner, he held the knife Father gave me up to the soldier's throat and told him to release me now. Another soldier, a lanky one came up and told Micah to fight him. Micah ignored him and continued to hold the knife up to the fat one's neck. The lanky guard grew angry and stabbed my husband in the side. I tried to look as my eyes were blinded with tears as my husband tried to reach out to me, his eyes with tears as well. Then the lanky one swung his sword and severed my husband's head from his shoulders. I couldn't move I was literally paralyzed, my whole family, my whole life, gone in an instant. I tried to look up and was struck in the head by the lanky soldier's sword. As I was falling unconscious the fat soldier had the lanky one by the neck trying to strangle him for ruining his fun. But the lanky one said they needed one person alive for the trials….


	5. Confession in the Night

Chapter 4 – Confession in the Night

Loreena had her head down as she continued her story. "All through the trial they kept asking me questions, but I would not speak." She shuddered, "They told people that the nearby village had been stricken with a plague, and my village was to blame because of our way of life. They had asked me if I enjoyed tormenting the good people of Christ and satisfying my Lord Lucifer. I didn't say anything so the guards who captured me took me to the torture chambers and placed me in the chair with spikes. The red robed inquistioner who led the attack on my village was in there as well." She felt the tears come but managed to hold them back. "He took my chin and I felt a chill like never before, his voice was as chilling he said 'I don't wish to hurt you but I will do what God has commanded Moses all those centuries ago.'"

"He took my left hand and stroked it for a minute, then with incredible force, bent my fingers back and snapped them horribly. I felt a low scream emerge from deep within. After a few minutes the inquistioner spoke again, 'Are you a servent of Lucifer, therefore an enemy of Christ and all we stand for?' I just sat there sobbing silently feeling my fingers leaking with my blood and throbbing." Loreena stopped to stare at her dislocated fingers trying not to move them. "Then he pulled me up with incredible force and undid my dress making it tear in some places and it fell to the ground. I could feel the eyes of the guards leering at me and I could feel the tears coming. 'We are looking for a brownish spot on her body, this is where the Dark one has touched her, thus giving her, the powers to harm others.' The guards and the inquisitioner took turns cutting and groping my body looking for something that made no sense, then the fat guard found a mole on the side of my shoulderblade. The inquistioner asked for a needle and he plunged it into my mole. When it didn't bleed he told me to put my clothes on, which was a relief for my part."

Loreena had looked down at her leg as she continued to speak. "Then they took the leg brace they use to torture prisoners and strapped it to my leg and began constricting it. I felt the pain rising considerably as it tightened, the brace started crushing my shin bone and tearing through my skin. I was seeing nothing but blurry red and hearing myself screaming, but my screaming did not cease my pain, nor the pain of my fellow villagers getting mercilessly slaughtered. The bone tore through my skin with a sickening snap and I felt like vomiting. The inquisitioner stopped the machine and asked again, 'Are you a servent of Lucifer, therefore an enemy of Christ and all we stand for?' I spoke for the first time that day, ' No, I would never use my powers to hurt anybody, not even you for what you do to me and others like me, I do not hate you or your God, and I do not know who this Lucifer is but he is no god I would ever follow.' The guards and the inquisitioner were silent for a few minutes, then the lanky guard drew his sword in anger, 'do not contradict the inquistioner bride of Satan' and slashed across my face causing blindness in one eye. The inquisitioner pushed away the guard, 'That's enough she's said what I want to hear, take her to her cell, she will be executed in three days.' The guards picked me up roughly and dragged me to my cell all the while fondling my breasts and chuckling under their breaths. They threw me into this cell roughly and this is where I've been since then."

Loreena must have forgotten that Brother Williams was sitting there listening to her story because when she looked up he was sitting there shaking a little bit. Loreena asked him what was wrong. Williams looked in her eyes, his face was whiter than a bedsheet, and eyes were red from weeping silently. "I didn't know…I….I'm sorry….I'm truly sorry for what happened to you. I must be frank, until I first came here I have never met a witch before, I just became a priest, I've been studying this faith all my life, the Bible says, "_thou shalt not suffer a witch to live"_, but you've never once shown me any fear. You couldn't have hurt me or anyone in this faith or any, because that would have caused you pain as well. If our Lord Jesus Christ was alive today, he would weep for what has become of his followers, he would not have allowed this, but how would I know this, all I know of Jesus is what I've been taught all my life by the Church." Loreena calmed him down and spoke. "I know not everyone is like those who destroyed my village, nor like those in this prison, I knew this the moment you stepped into my cell. You have a good soul, I see you becoming something great in your life."

Williams continued, "But what if I become like those who hurt you I don't want to tell innocent people they are going to Hell, I should abandon my priesthood if such a time should arise." Loreena grew angry, "No Williams do not abandon what you spent your life doing, your god would not want that, nor would the Lord and Lady, they love you even if you don't believe in them, besides do not worry about how you will do in this life, you will live a new life on this planet when you die if you cause no harm to people." Williams felt a little better but something horrible struck his mind. "But you will die at dawn tomorrow, and you are innocent, I have to tell these people to let you go, I don't want to see you die." Loreena held down her head, "You knew this was to happen my friend", Williams replied, "Yes, but I..I cannot accept it." Loreena smiled, "I will die anyway, my wounds will not let me live through tomorrow, I can feel the world darken a little as the blood flees my body, but do not weep for me I will always be on this planet with the spirits that we feel everyday. I want you to look under my pillow when they take me tomorrow, my mother's pendent. Take it with you, and tell the world about my people." Williams nodded his head, "I promise you I will, milady." They looked outside as the first rays of light began to pour into the cell.


	6. The Passing

Chapter 6 – The Passing

Hey everyone it's Vortus the Undying. I want to thank everyone who took the time to read my first story and reviewed it. By popular demand this chapter will be viewed through Brother Williams' POV so enjoy.

Not one person in my life will ever have touched my heart and feelings toward this woman Loreena. She had told me to take her mother's pendent which she managed to hide from her captors. I stood up, my legs and knees were still shaky from the horrid story of her suffering from the hands of my brethren. I reached under her pillow and my hand enclosed something cool and metal. I pulled out a simple pendent of a star enclosed in a circle. "That's a 'pentacle' it is a symbol of protection, take it with you, it will keep you safe."

Tears started to well up in my eyes as I remembered the story of her mother as a child wandering the countryside holding this in her hands. Now she was dead, and as I was raised to believe, was in Hell now. No, I can't believe she and her husband and all of those villagers are in Hell, they hadn't done anything to deserve such punishment. Maybe they aren't in Hell, perhaps there is more to this universe than what is taught in the Bible, then again how do we know if what is taught in the Bible is true, especially if it is taught by those who break those rules everyday. I've questioned the faith when I was four years old and was sent by my parents to the monestary to avoid getting excommunicated like Loreena's husband. I studied to become a priest and I never again questioned the faith until I arrived here.

I turned to Loreena, "I'm truly sorry for what my brethren have done to you. These hunts are immoral, Jesus Himself would never let these hunts continue, please let me help you somehow." Loreena smiled "I am honored that you care for me so much, but like I said I cannot live past this day even if you managed to get me out of here. I don't want you to get killed for helping someone like me. People hate me and they always will, I don't want you to get hunted down and killed like my family. Someday these hunts will end, they cannot destroy us all, some of us will survive, and my people and yours will coexist, and the peace your people seek as well as mine will come to pass." I crouched and gave her a hug and whispered "Thank you" to her ears.

Suddenly I heard the cell door unlocking, I got back up on my feet, pocketing the pendent. The Executioner as well as the two guards came into the cell. "Well priest, did ye save her worthless soul a little?" I bowed my head and lied, "This one will not be saved." Was all I said, hearing those words I nearly vomited. The fat guard sneered at Loreena and grabbed her up forcibly, the lanky one grabbed her other arm. "Well then, _'Thou shalt not suffer a witch to live' _am I right?" as they dragged her out.

I kept my head down as I followed them down the halls hearing screaming from the other prisoners at Loreena. I tried to comprehend what Loreena had said, that these hunts will end someday, that her people will not be completely destroyed by these hunts. Maybe I could make a difference, maybe I could tell the world that these hunts are meaningless. But I risk getting excommunicated for these beliefs, and that would mean certain death. But does that really matter to me anymore, I don't know.

We were led out to the gallows, as well as a huge crowd. These executions always drew crowds, men and women were cursing her name and throwing rocks at her, I kept hearing verses in my head, _"Let he who is without sin cast the first stone", "Love thy enemy"_ , "_Thou shalt not kill" _But these people were doing exactly the opposite, I couldn't look at these people, they were sinning left and right. They took Loreena up the gallows and fitted her with the noose, and made her stand on her broken leg. I managed to get up to where she stood and I read from the Bible, like I was taught to do back at the monestary. I looked up to Loreena, she gave me the sweetest smile I had ever seen possibly in my lifetime, despite all of the anger towards her.

The executioner tightened the noose around Loreena's neck and kicked her off the gallows, and on the way down the rope snapped back and her neck snapped violently and Loreena the last survivor of her village, died at the age of twenty. As I watched her go I felt the tears running down my face and I ran to the side and started vomiting as well as weeping out loud.

The crowd left after ten minutes and the guards from inside the dungeon were getting her body down from the gallows and the lanky one had a shovel and the fat one was arguing with the lanky one. "I want to burn her body to ashes after I look at her with her clothes off for a good long while" "No, the executioner wants her buried before she stinks up the place. They began a long argument which turned into a fistfight. The lanky guard dropped his shovel and they disappeared behind the dungeon. I picked up the shovel and began to lift Loreena's body up. I saw the forest next to the dungeon and quickly ran to it. After thirty minutes I found a clearing and started digging her grave. After I had dug it I took off my cloak and her mother's pendent fell out. I picked it up and looked at it, although this was supposed to be an evil symbol in my faith I felt surprisingly comfortable holding it. I put the pendent around my neck and wrapped Loreena's body in it and placed her in her grave and covered it up. I traced the pentacle on the dirt and walked out of the forest, as I left I got on my knees for prayer, and prayed for the soul of Loreena and whispered "_May you always follow the path that opens to you, Blessed Be"._

Fin


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